The present invention relates to a bicycle sprocket.
Bicycle sprockets are used in bicycle drive trains to transmit rotational energy from the pedaling action of a rider via a chain to a rear wheel of the bicycle. Many bicycles feature multiple front sprockets provided in a front sprocket assembly and multiple rear sprockets provided in a rear sprocket assembly. Each of the front and rear assemblies has a plurality of sprockets of different diameters and different numbers of teeth. Such bicycles also include shifting mechanisms for shifting the chain among the different sprockets of the front sprocket assembly and rear sprocket assembly, to thereby achieve a desired gear ratio. On the sprockets of these sprocket assemblies, shift aiding structures have been positioned at precise locations to aid in transitioning the chain between sprockets during shifting, to reduce noise, vibration, derailment, skipping, slipping, delayed chain engagement, and chain suck during shifting. The precise location for these shift aiding structures depends on the geometry of each sprocket.
Depending on circumstances such as terrain, style of riding, fitness level, etc. a rider may desire to change a front or rear sprocket on a bicycle, to achieve a different gear ratio. Heretofore, since the front and rear sprocket assemblies have been designed so that the positions of the shift aiding structures among the sprockets are optimized, a rider could not exchange sprockets as desired without adversely affecting a shifting operation. In other words, if a rider exchanges a sprocket to achieve a different gear ratio, there is then a challenge in providing effective shift aiding structures. Since prior shift aiding structures have been positioned on the sprockets based on the particular geometrical relationship between each adjacent pair of sprockets of different sizes in the sprocket assembly, it is an as-yet-unanswered challenge to provide such shift aiding structures on a sprocket that will be interchangeably paired with other sprockets of different sizes.